1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to innerseals for bottles or other containers which will provide a visual indication at the point of purchase, or before use, if the innerseal has been previously removed and reattached or if the innerseal has been applied to the container by one other than the packager.
2. Description of the Prior Art
This invention relates to an improvement in a container innerseal which fits beneath the container cap to afford the consumer an opportunity to readily determine whether or not the innerseal has been previously removed or tampered with since the container left the manufacturer or packaging company.
The need for prevention of removal of a container innerseal and replacing same without detection has existed for some time. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,131,774, there is disclosed a container closure having a metal shell having a screw threaded skirt and opening through the top thereof, a disk of rupturable material within said shell and exposed through said opening, a liner or gasket of compressible friction material within said shell, a plate having a recessed portion between said gasket and said disk, and a prong extending inwardly of the opening through the top of said shell and adapted, after the sealing of a container, to be forced downwardly to penetrate the portion of said disk across the recessed portion of said plate, whereby rotary movement of said shell to remove said closure will cause the tearing of said disk to an extent to prevent its re-use.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,240, there is disclosed a tamper indicating cover member suitable for use on a wide variety of containers and comprising a cap having at least a portion of the top thereof being translucent, i.e., translucent or transparent, and an innerseal for sealing to the container after same has been filled. A deposit of adhesive or a heat sealable film adhere the cap, innerseal and container together in such a manner that relative rotation between the cap and the container ruptures the innerseal in a manner to be visible through the cap. The innerseal comprises a membrane of rupturable material adapted to be placed within the side walls and sealed to the inner surface of the top of the cap, with a second membrane of seal material adapted to be sealed to the upper surface of the neck of a container. The cap innerseal material may be punched from a web to form a disk shaped to be placed in a cap, utilizing a conventional machine for inserting cap liners into caps. After the container is filled, the cap and innerseal will be placed on the container. Suitable means, such as induction heating, can be utilized to seal the innerseal to the container about the opening thereof, and also to bond the rupturable disk to the cap. By this technique, the rupturable disk, cap and container will be adhered together in a manner such that the rupturable disk will tear as the cap is rotated relative to the container.
It has been found that certain kinds of innerseals can be removed from the mouth of the container by heating the innerseal to weaken the bond between the innerseal and container mouth and then carefully peeling the loosened innerseal away from the mouth of the container. The contents of the container can then be adulterated, and the innerseal resealed to the container mouth. Another method of tampering involves the steps of removing the innerseal from the mouth of a container having a relatively large diameter, cutting a disk out of the removed innerseal so that the disk is of a diameter suitable for covering the mouth of a container having a relatively small diameter, and heat sealing the altered disk to the mouth of the smaller container. If this method is conducted by a person of good manual dexterity, tampering will not be visible to the typical consumer.
Accordingly, it is desired by packagers that an innerseal be provided that will indicate (a) if heat has been employed to remove an innerseal from the mouth of a container and reseal same to the mouth of the container, or (b) if heat has been employed, other than by the packagers, to seal an altered innerseal to the mouth of a container.